Is art purely based on taste and culture?

Art is a form of expression from the artist, but what determines how he expresses, and what he expresses as art? On the other hand, what do we employ to observe art, to appreciate or criticize, generally relate to art? Art is often argued to be based on taste and culture; they are the factors which influence vital elements of art, from the artist's expression to the critics. However, is art solely based on taste and culture, that the artist's artistic expression and the critics' opinions on art can by no means be affected by other factors?

First of all, we have to look at how art is based on taste and culture. People may have different tastes on colours, some like mild colours and some prefer eye-catching ones, it is obvious that they can easily drive one's choice of expressing art, or his preference of art, taste is what determines us to choose and prefer art.

Taste You (Cheyne song)

Taste Real

Taste of Cincinnati, 2007

Culture plays an important role as well, as people having same cultural background will be inspired by form of art in that particular culture, they will then have some similarities in their taste, either in creating or appreciating art, therefore culture gives us a background and imitation of how to see art. Tastes and culture are generally very essential when it comes to art, but to what extent?

Taste and culture is discussed to have quite a big impact on art, however it is hard to solely look at taste and culture in the question. Living in the real world, we are always tied with time, and so are taste and culture. It will not be fair with time without taking into account time, because taste and culture change with time. After periods of time, people are likely to seek for new...